All 14 Asal coun­ties to be en­rolled in live­stock in­sur­ance plan by end of 2017

All coun­ties in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands will by next year be en­rolled un­der the Kenya Live­stock In­sur­ance Pro­gramme. Al­ready, six coun­ties have been in­cor­po­rated and four more will be added in this fi­nan­cial year to pro­tect live­stock from drought-re­lated deaths. Live­stock PS An­drew Tuimur yes­ter­day said the pro­gramme is im­ple­mented by the na­tional and county gov­ern­ments. He said the in­sur­ance scheme started in July 2014 in Wa­jir and Turkana, where 26,060 live­stock units were in­sured for Sh56 mil­lion. Tuimur said in the 2015-16 fi­nan­cial year, it was ex­panded to cover the Man­dera, Marsabit, Isi­olo and Tana River coun­ties. He said 41,400 an­i­mals were in­sured for Sh97 mil­lion, adding that Sam­buru, Garissa, Baringo and West Pokot will be cov­ered by March 1 next year. “The Gov­ern­ment ex­pects to bring all the 14 ASAL coun­ties un­der the live­stock in­sur­ance scheme by the end of 2017,” the PS said.